ALERT: These Popular Candles in Your Home Could Literally KILL Your Entire Family

It is entirely possible that your favorite scented candles may just be some of the most dangerous objects in your household.

If your favorite scent lies within the citrus family, it may well contain the ingredient limonene, which is used to create that lemon smell people love so well — it’s the same thing found in cleaning products and air fresheners.

By itself, it’s completely harmless — it can even flavor food. But there’s more to it than that, according to a June 24 article posted on Opposing Views.

However, according to research done by Alastair Lewis of the National Center of Atmospheric Science at the University of New York, when limonene comes in contact with the air it forms into formaldehyde, The Telegraph reported in January.

Every two limonene molecules mutate into formaldehyde — that’s a lot of formaldehyde.

Although that may sound groundbreaking, that actually has been well-known for some time. What is so important about Lewis’ work is the discovery of just how much limonene is contained in a scented candle — which is up to 100 times more than previously thought.

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That is a lot of formaldehyde.

“The really surprising thing is just how high the concentrations of some fragrances are now in people’s homes… Fragrance chemicals now completely dominate the inside of most homes,” Lewis told the Telegraph.

“The issue is we don’t really know what the consequences of long-term exposure to formaldehyde are. It is a chemical that is known to harm you long-term,” he said.

Exposure to formaldehyde can cause symptoms like watering eyes, burning eyes, nose, and throat irritation, and respiratory issues. Long term exposure has been known to be carcinogenic (possibly cancer-inducing) since 1987, according to the National Cancer Institute.